Corporate Social Responsibility

Pipelife around the World - August 2013

The “Support of Victims of human trafficking” project provides assistance to approximately 40 victims of human trafficking annually. The focus is on ex-victims of foreign origin who reside in the region of Utrecht. The project aims to empower victims and to strengthen their autonomy by informing them of their rights and providing them with the tools to safeguard them. Red Cross volunteers provide victims with practical and judicial support during their application procedure for a temporary residence permit on humanitarian grounds.2 The support given is in coordination with the regional care coordinator for human trafficking victims, shelter staff, lawyers and other professionals.

The project’s 15-20 trained volunteers, mainly students with legal or social/anthropological backgrounds, provide victims of human trafficking with (legal) information, interpretation of rights and obligations, assistance in applying for personal documents (like birth certificates and passports), giving them the tools to gather information on the (safety) situation in their countries of origin, completing forms, and refer them to organisations for housing-, health-, psychosocial-, voluntary return, financial or other services.2

The Pipelife donation will enable the Red Cross to employ the project coordinator for an extra half day per week until the end of 2013, which will benefit the qualitative support of volunteers and VoT alike.

1However, the Red Cross has no position on the outcome of individual procedures for residence permits. These activities are conducted maintaining the independence, neutrality and impartiality or the organisation.2Volunteers do not legally represent their clients, nor do they support the gathering of evidence.